


A Minor Inconvenience

by EuphoniousGlow



Category: Persona 4
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-08-16
Updated: 2010-08-16
Packaged: 2017-10-11 03:00:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,510
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/107613
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EuphoniousGlow/pseuds/EuphoniousGlow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Naoto wants to take their relationship to the next level, but it isn't that easy for Kanji.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Minor Inconvenience

**Author's Note:**

> Sexuality is complicated.

The first time he asked her out, he was stammering and blushing so much that it was a wonder she understood his meaning at all. But Naoto just smiled, in that calm and serene way of hers, and said she'd love to see that new action mystery movie with him. A faint blush on her cheeks was on the only sign that she felt a little flustered. During the scary parts, Kanji covered his eyes and grabbed her hand, and she held his large shaking one in her small but strong one. 

After three more pleasant but awkward dates, she kissed him because she knew that if she waited he might never have the courage. It took some practice, but he really was a decent kisser, and she had the patience to rival a Buddhist monk. She wanted to touch, to understand, her fingers grazing the piercings on his earlobe or the sharp edge of his collarbone. He was gentle with his touch, as though afraid of holding on too tightly, though his hand at the small of her back was a comfortable presence. 

They did this while fully clothed, never feeling the need to touch anyplace more intimate, though she did enjoy it when he would remove her tie. And what she liked most of all was the cuddling afterwards. They would would lay or sit together, sometimes in silence and occasionally talking about whatever came to mind. A few times they fell asleep together, nestled comfortably in each other's arms. Kanji was shocked to find out that Naoto snored, but he quickly decided that she did so in a very cute way. 

Their friends didn't quite know what to make of this relationship. Yosuke quickly learned, from Kanji's threatening fist and Naoto's death glare, that joking about the peculiar dynamics of their relationship was too much of a suicide wish to continue. Rise thought it was the cutest thing ever, and Souji commented, in that quiet and assured way of his, that they seemed to mesh together really well. Chie complained that Yukiko didn't make lunch for her the way Kanji did for Naoto every day. 

And they were happy. But both of them started to wonder if perhaps there was something they were missing. During a particularly heavy moment of making out, she pulled away and said, as if she were announcing the weather for the next day, "I think it's the appropriate time to take our relationship to the next level."

Kanji stared at her for a moment, then, predictably, a blush lit his face. "Y-you want to, um, right now?" 

She popped the button at her collar. "We can start by removing our shirts." She continued, trying to ignore her own hot face, until her shirt was open and the camisole that she wore underneath was visible. Kanji looked at the two little lumps that proved that she was a girl after all, and then quickly glanced away. He pulled off his own tank top, gaze firmly at the ceiling the whole while. Naoto examined his upper body as carefully as she would an evidence file, and finally gave a small nod of approval. He nearly jumped as he felt her cool fingers against his chest. One grazed a nipple and he grabbed her arm in shock.

"Sorry," he mumbled, and let her go. She smiled and kissed him again, a light touch of lips that tasted like the tea she had just finished drinking.She slipped off her shirt, that blue one which he thought matched her eyes so perfectly, and after folding it neatly and setting it on the bed, took both of his hands in her own. "Now I want you to touch me there, too." She guided his hands to the hem of her camisole. She looked so small and skinny, but the look in her eyes reassured him. He took off her camisole, his eyes carefully gazing in some other direction, but her hand touched his face and guided him back toward her. For a moment he just looked at her. Big blue eyes trusting, thin lips with a slight smile, thin pale shoulders (did she eat enough? he hoped she did) and arms with a hint of wiry muscle. And those things. The things that his eyes just couldn't stay away from once again. He knew the manly thing was to like breasts. Hers happened to be small enough to hide with a normal loose shirt, but they still looked kinda strange, just sitting there. Two little lumps on an otherwise flat abdomen. But she wanted him to touch them, and he wanted to make her happy.

He put his hand on her shoulder, as it was easier to start with. Then trailed his fingers up the sides of her stomach. She shivered and moved closer to him, her eyes half-lidded. He almost pulled away when he touched her breasts by accident. It was a bit like sewing, in that placement of fingers and how quickly and gently he moved his hands mattered. A small sound of contentment escaped her lips, and he leaned down to kiss her again. The fingers of her right hand were curled in his hair, and she was backing up toward the bed, pulling him along. She fell back onto it just as he nibbled the hollow of her neck, and in the next moment he was lying beside her. 

"I find that to be... quite pleasurable," she murmured happily. "Perhaps we could do something else?" Her breaths came out a little quicker, and there was a flush to her skin.

But as her hand started to drift up his thigh, he realized something was wrong. Before, when they had just been kissing, he'd thought it was normal for him not be aroused. There hadn't been anything particularly sexual about those kisses. But now that they were half-naked together, and she was clearly wanting more, he realized that he didn't feel any physical desire at all. He'd enjoyed their relationship because he really liked her as a person, and her turning out to be a girl made him feel, well, even more confused than usual, but also a little better about kissing her. He'd never really allowed himself to ever fantasize about what he really wanted, but he knew at least that sex meant that certain things were supposed to happen. Up until now, he'd only felt that way around other guys. He felt comfortable around Naoto, loved cooking for her and thinking about how cute she was, and enjoyed the way he felt calmed by her quiet companionship, but--He grabbed her hand, gently but firmly, as she started to unbutton his pants.

"Wait!"

She looked at him, confused, but moved her hand away.

"I can slow my advances, if you prefer," she said, but her eyes revealed that she wasn't so sure of herself now. "I'm sorry, Kanji. I should have asked you."

And suddenly he couldn't look at her, sitting there still half-naked and uncertain. He turned away so his back was facing her, and then he was crying, the tears hot and burning and even more so with his embarrassment. He pressed his palms to his eyes, but didn't stop. 

"What is it? Kanji?" Her hand was touching his shoulder. 

"I'm the one who should be sorry, Naoto! I should've known this would happen!" He was angry at himself for taking it this far, and for misleading her. For believing that he could be anything but what he was.

"You have nothing to apologize for. I'm just confused, and worried," she said softly, her deft hands now lightly rubbing his back. "I don't want to upset you."

"Now it's just a mess."

"What's a mess? I, I think you've been quite a good boyfriend. I was never dissatisfied." 

"Naoto, I really like you. I've liked you for a long time and I like being with you." He swallowed. "But I'm queer." He said it. He said it and he could never take it back now. And even if she felt betrayed, he felt that at least now he could be honest with himself. What he wasn't expecting was to feel her lips against his cheek. He looked at her, finally, and saw not disgust or even disappointment, but a sort of quiet understanding. 

"You feel how you feel," she said. "That does not mean our time together was meaningless. I still consider you one of my best friends." She took his hand in hers, and then pulled him into a hug. Even if he couldn't be attracted to her as a girl, she was one of the first people he felt comfortable with. She, and Souji too, had helped him to accept the way he was, and realize that there were people out there who would understand him. 

They both got dressed in silence, then she looked at him and smiled. "Tomorrow would be a good day to bake a cake. What do you think, Kanji?"

"Yeah. That'd be nice."


End file.
